After a greatly productive offseason and an impressive preseason, Dez Bryant entered Sunday night’s season opener with very high expectations. The New York Giants, meanwhile, came in with a plan to blanket the receiver with double-coverage for much of the night.
The tactic worked, insofar as Bryant’s stat line was concerned. He finished with just four catches for 22 yards, a very quiet night for a man many expect to be named a Pro Bowler at season’s end.
But with all that focus on Bryant, tight end Jason Witten and No. 2 receiver Miles Austin stepped up--Witten with 70 yards and a pair of touchdowns on eight catches and Austin with 72 yards on 10 catches--and because of this, Bryant isn’t worried about his production.
“Hey, I got my stats through Witt, through Miles, through Tony and the rest of the other guys,” Bryant told ESPN Dallas after the 36-31 win. “[The Giants] respected me tonight. I know what I can do. Everybody across this world knows what I can do. And they know, if the ball is thrown my way, I'm going to get to it. I don't care if it's double [coverage], triple or whatever. I'm going to try my best to get to it.
“But we play smart football here. We want to win, and I think we went the smart route tonight.”
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